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| ABOUT US
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History and StructureScalo was founded in 1991 as a partnership by Walter Keller and the late George Reinhart, a Swiss film producer and a great patron of numerous cultural activities. Among other endeavors, George Reinhart was the co-founder of the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland.
Walter Keller has been the director of Scalo since its beginnings. Patrick Frey, whose Edition Patrick Frey is distributed by Scalo, has been Walter Keller's partner since 2001. Zurich-based Scalo Verlag AG is an independent publishing house with international distribution. In its Swiss hometown Zurich, Scalo runs a gallery and a bookshop with unique, international stock. In 1998, Scalo opened its own gallery in New York City's SoHo. The New York gallery moved to Chelsea in 2003.
The combination of publishing images in book form and offering the same images to collectors as signed and numbered originals or limited editions, seems perfectly natural to us, our artists, and our visitors. |
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Book Publishing Imagine you're living in Italy in the 19th century, in Tuscany or Umbria, on one of the hillsides in an out-of-the-way village. The formerly malaria-infested marshlands are being drained for the construction of the Florence-Rome railway. With the construction of the railway you start to realize that you are now living close to a main communication artery. Crafts and industries begin to grow near the newly constructed railway stations. You call such a new place of railway-related trade "scalo" and combine this new term with the old name of your village to name the new settlement–as in "Chiusi Scalo" at the foot of the Umbrian hill town. These places will soon become parts of a larger network.
A publishing house is a switch-lever in the communication between author and public. Books are both material objects and spiritual messages. Scalo brings together people who pursue and explore issues of burning interest today; we present photographers and artists who reveal to us our own world in new and personal pictures. Scalo is first and foremost about remaining true to our artists' visions. As publishers and editors our understanding of our role is like that of a bird sitting on the shoulder of an artist, helping him or her to focus their vision more clearly at a time when they might still be struggling to create the work.
Our commitment to our artists often extends beyond the individual book since we try to cultivate continuity. We do this by publishing our artists' work as it changes and develops through the years. Only in this way is the quality of growth guaranteed and does collaboration bear fruit. It is our goal to work as seriously and closely as possible with the artists we feel are creating important work which helps us to understand the world in which we live.
We concentrate on the powerful voice of the individual artist. When Scalo chooses a project we are looking for life itself, with all its beauty and ugliness, pain and eroticism, excitement and agony.
Our aim is to preserve in our publications the same magical power that is created by the photographers and artists themselves. It is through such processes that every Scalo book is born, incorporating all the joys, energy, hurt, and humor of the artistic process. Many of the artists we publish have become household, or at least art-world names. Yet we are equally committed to publishing and giving exposure to new, emerging artists.
Our books are crafted and developed slowly; we only publish twelve to sixteen books a year. As you get to know our books more intimately, you will find that they all feel different, corresponding to the specific artistic and editorial needs. There are no standard sizes. The acid-free papers, binding and design are all selected to endure, to retain their value and beauty for a long time. Each image reproduction is as close to the original work of art as contemporary printing allows. Whenever possible, we bring our artists to the printing machine to oversee the printing process.
This level of quality and depth of editorial development does not come cheaply. We would rather produce, and then offer you, a much higher-quality book. And these are books you can be proud to give and collect. Scalo books are made to both reflect and comment on our times, yet also to stand the test of time. |
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StaffScalo head office Zurich
Walter Keller: Publisher
André Gstettenhofer: Communications and distribution
Teresa Go: Editorial assistant
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CV Walter KellerBorn 1953
Father Swiss, mother Italian
Nationality: Swiss
Schools in a suburb of Zurich/Switzerland
Studied cultural anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and German literature in Zurich (1973/74) and at the Freie Universität Berlin (1974-1976)
Co-founded a bi-monthly magazine called Der Alltag (The Culture of Everyday Life) in 1978. Published the magazine until 1992.
Co-founded the bilingual (English/German) quartely art magazine parkett in 1984. Acted as its publisher from 1984 to 1992.
Taught cultural anthropology and urban studies at Zurich University from 1978 to 1983. Wrote continuously for newspapers, magazines, and radio stations from 1978 to 1983. Curated a large exhibition on high/low culture and the creativity of amateur artists at the Zurich Museum of Design in 1987.
Worked from 1983 to 1997 as a consultant and PR specialist for various corporations, such as Swiss Postal/Telecom Services and the organization for adult education Migros Club School.
Commissioned to create, edit and publish the official, internationally distributed self-presentation of Switzerland abroad in two volumes (Switzerland: An Inside View & Through the Eyes of Others) in 1992.
Co-founded Scalo with George Reinhart (1942-1997) as an International Publishing Project and Gallery for Photography, Art and Popular Culture in 1991, with associated bookstore and gallery in Zurich and gallery in New York City. Scalo is an independent publishing house owned by Walter Keller and Patrick Frey specializing in photography and contemporary art. |
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